Going up
by Tzaotao
Summary: Amaru has been taken by the forces of Soragakure, what does they plan for her? what does her future hold....
1. Chapter 1

Going up

* * *

It hadn't been easy, it really hadn't.

After the destruction of the Anchor Vantian Amaru had briefly stayed in Konoha to recuperate, but then she had left for home.

Both she and the rest of the village had expected to rebuild and then….. then nothing. Just live and be happy with their lives, even in a jungle full of poisonous snakes, fish, crocodile's and other lethal animals and plants.

But others had a different idea about how they, or in particular she, had to live, and where.

* * *

A week after they had left Konoha things looked quite good. Especially if you could put up with living in a hut made of leaves, twigs and whatever you could find in the forest. Usually dung and mud.

Amaru had been collecting twigs and lumber with a group of other villagers before they returned to the building site of the new village. They had chosen to relocate to another part of the jungle due to the close proximity of the Sky ninja's old base. Plus the earth was more fertile in this region, it had never been used for farmland and thus was rich and unspoiled. The new place was sunny too and close to water. It was better than the old place. Open clearings. The jungle was thinner and it was higher. They didn't need to worry about flooding or a sudden attack by a crocodile or a tiger.

But there were others who could just as easily attack.

Such as Sky Ninja or Sora-nin as they were also called.

But to call it an attack might be overdoing it.

2 lone shinobi, who swooped down and abducted one person fore then to be off again was more in the line of kidnapping.

Or at least that was how Amaru thought of it when she thought back. At the time she had been more occupied with screaming as she was painfully lifted into the air at high speed and gone up several hundred feet in the matter of moments.

As her brain started to understand what had transpired she illogically began to kick and scream to be let go of. The ninja holding her in the arm did as he was told, letting her drop some 50 feet before his partner got hold of her shirt, ensuring that she couldn't harm him in any way or for that sake struggle further as they flew her further away from the new village.

Regardless of whether she struggled or not: the drop-and-catch exercise was repeated a few times due to the shinobi's arms getting tired of holding her.

Amaru quickly developed a bad case of flight sickness because of this, which luckily wasn't lost on the shinobi who held her at the time, the one whom had been the first to drop her.

"No need to hurl yet miss, we're almost there" even though he literally yelled it, he managed to make it sound reassuring, Amaru had expected something more grim or demanding, not near politeness.

"There" looked unmistakably like a cliff at the coastline. Which it unsurprisingly was, or rather it was on the inside of the cliff. On the side facing the ocean Amaru could see cave entrances, big and small, some even gigantic, wide enough for several boats to pass through side by side and tall enough for their combined masts.

Passing through on of the larger cave mouths, Amaru could make out general sounds now. the chrashing of the waves againgt the rocks the seagulls and… people, toiling people. As her eyes got used to the darkness she began to make out shapes. A large floating….. "boat" was docked below her. Amaru had never seen anything like it. She supposed it was a boat due to its overall shape and…. General boat-like behaviour, floating and such. Supposedly it was the roundshape, the tower stuck near the middle and the several antenna upon its roof that caught her off guard.

Flying past it she saw 4 more of the white boats docked down at the base level. On the sides of the cave walls there seemed to have been cut crude walking passages, doors, statues depicting Buddha, fences and additional caves all of which were filled with people. Ninja and people to be more correct. The people didn't seem to be hostages or prisoners for the matter, they seemed to be…… free?

It was so much unlike her last visit into Sora-nin territory.

Finally they landed on an outcrop upon which several of her captor's comrades stood, waiting. Just for them.

Amaru worked some warmth back into her body after the cold flight, but she was stopped by being pushed hardly to the ground.

Grinding her teeth for then to look in a pair of hard black eyes would not have been the best meeting for any person. Especially when the eyes were put together with a sneer, thick eyebrows and an ugly flat military haircut, all combined on a middle aged man. That was what had pushed Amaru and taking in a closer look did not improve her opinion about him. An authority who demanded obedience. Gives orders, expects people to obey and never answer back. That kind of person was usually found in boot camp or in a prison facility, and apparently at Amaru's welcoming party as well.

"Okay missy, I don't care what you are used to in that little village of yours" he spat out the words: little village. "But here, we work hard for a living and I expect that you will too" his face had been level with Amaru's at the latter part of his speech/welcoming, spittle occasionally hitting her face as he had barked the sentences. He was clearly too used to be the one giving orders.

Amaru relished in the sudden ceasefire of saliva as the pusher stood up and addressed her abductors. And to him adress meant a combination of sneering and barking

"Ahoro, Katsuma, put the girl to work and guard her at all times, I don't want her to disappear like a fart in the wind you understand?

"Yes sir, sergeant Tokachi-sama sir" the two nodded, the order understood and taken seriously.

"W-wait a minute, why've you taken me? What do you want from me? Amaru's near panicky voice was completely expected of her in a situation like this. And so was the sergeant or Tokachi's answer:

"You'll get all your answers later missy, take her away"

Amaru struggled as her abductors began to bind her wrists and drag her up so she could walk. They then led her down a dimly lit, cold and damp corridor.

* * *

As they worked their way up and down stairs Amaru had used the time to complain and question

"Where are you taking me? What do you want from me? You have no right to do this, you cant keep me against my will, I'll get saved"

"Listen kid…. We can't answer all that and we definitely aren't allowed to anyway…." One of her captors began to mutter

"Well, we can tell her where she's going can't we Ahoro?" her other guard questioned.

Taking a moment to pinch the bridge of his nose the one who had begun speaking, Ahoro apparently, confided:

"The infirmary"

Amaru looked blankly at him, a mixture of concussion and relief on her face, she had been answered, but that just led to new questions. Answers that shut one up was rare and when they did occur they were usually sinister and grim. This one was not.

"You're taking me to your sick?"

"We are taking you to our wounded" Ahoro's correction had Amaru formulating yet another question in her mind but before, she could put it out….

"What's with the face? You didn't expect us to be all fine or dead after Ancor Vantian fell, did you? Or after the main fleet got destroyed? A lot died and even more got wounded, both me and Katsuma were amongst the lucky ones, we could walk after a few days of treatment" he looked down on Amaru with insightful, tired eyes, like an elder lecturing a child not yet used to how harsh reality could be.

"I hope Shinno taught you enough to help us out, our own healers are working their palms away in there"

Hearing this Amaru's mind began to race anew.

"I've never learned to use chakra?" Amaru yelled. Her words bounced of the stone walls and echoed down the corridor like a bouncing ball. Her captors stopped momentarily to watch Amaru shake with anger and fear.

They really believed that she could help them? She thought. She couldn't, she was just one single person, one single doctor couldn't make that big a difference. She had seen the medic's in Konoha, they had had their hands full after the attack upon their village. And she couldn't use chakra, despite that Shinno had been a ninja, he had never taught her a thing in that area let alone mentioned it.

They had too much faith in her, all because of Shinno, her former teacher.

She had loathed him when he betrayed her and it seemed he still caused her harm even after having perished.

"So?" his matter-of-factly tone startled her "We take what we can get at the moment miss, sorry but that's the way it is" she stood there frozen for a moment, watching him start walking, before she was gently pushed in the back by his partner.

"Come on kid, no need to go all tired and helpless now, that won't do any good, definetly not help anyone"

"You're being too nice Katsuma" Ahoro had turned around again, looking like he was smirking under that mask of his. "But it's much needed for everyone" he laughed. His partner Katsuma soon joined in as they walked down the corridor. It wasn't forced or booming, but light and jolly, the kind of humour one gets when in a tight spot.

They gradually stopped laughing and smiling as they strode down the corridor, Amaru didn't know the place but she could feel they were close; people always stopped talking when they were near their goal.

As they stopped at a slide door, Ahoro took the handle and slowly pulled it open in a smooth calm movement. "Told you, didn't I? A lot were wounded"

His words hadn't been a last minute joke, they had been too true.

The door revealed a large crowded room filled with sickbeds and countless people made so because of the crowds they were moving in. some were not medics but simply family and friends to the wounded. The room itself was equipped with several large windows. They didn't let much light in due to them being positioned on the inside of the large cave, giving the room a grim shadowy illumination. Like a police office in the late afternoon.

It truly was a miserable sight…… and the smell didn't make it better. Hospitals are supposed to be clean and sterile, not warm, damp and having the nasal atmosphere of an unclean toilet.

Amaru was so entranced by the sight that she failed to realise that her bonds had been cut and she herself were rubbing her wrists absentmindedly.

In fact she first understood that her hands were free when she had several near-clean towels, a bucket of water and several boxes of medicine and different medical remedies forced unto them and were told to tend to the different wounded.

Ahoro and Katsuma were still guarding her, though they did so absentmindedly, taking their time to grip the hand of a comrade or two as they passed by the different beds, high five one with a broken leg whom were supporting himself upon a pair of crotches, and gripping a shoulder on a man whom had managed to sit up in his bed.

In the end they settled at the opposite side of the door they had entered from and Amaru began to see to the man upon the bed, he was pale and sweating, alive, but with a breath like a near-soundless vacuum cleaner: fast and wheezing. Amaru could tell he was in the vile grip of a fever.

Reaching into the bucket she grabbed a sponge and moved it over his forehead.

The man was middle aged, had a few wrinkles and brown hair which were starting to grey slightly at the edges. A teddy bear had been put under the blanket to him, alongside a picture. Amaru knew that it was impolite to "research" other peoples privacy, but she couldn't help but take it up and examine it. The man was upon the picture alongside a woman and 3 young kids. His family had coe by and given him those. She had seen it before, lucky charms like get well cards or flowers meant to show the bedridden that he was missed and loved, that his loved ones were anxious to see him again. Alive and well.

Amaru could relate to that, she had seen it dozens of times, the waiting family whom prayed that their beloved father should return home safely.

she wanted him to return, event though she had not recieved the best treatment from the sora-nin so far, she couldnt bear to take her anger and feelings of retaliation out on a wounded man with family waiting for him at home. she would stay and aid the wounded.

She was a doctor, trained in healing and mending pain. She could not leave without doing her best.

* * *

First chapter of Amaru's adventure in the hands of Soragakure

All Sora-nin names are taken from the mountains of Hokkaido

Katsuma, Ahoro, Tokachi, Rakko, Kamitaki etc.

I will post the next chapter as soon as possible,

please rnr


	2. Of wounded men and dying lords

Of wounded men and dying lords

* * *

(an ordinary day at the infirmary)

A cold wet cloth had been placed time and again over the man's brow as his fever were slowly brought down to a more acceptable temperature. It was only the second day of her treatment of him and yet he had made this much progress.

Amaru had other patients too, but this one was the first she had begun to treat and thus special to her in a way. His family came by regularly and especially his children were devoted to caring for him and made an adorable show of being present at all possible times, which had led Amaru to work with them time and again and be pestered by them each and everytime she entered the small makeshift personal space of his. The usual questions and demands: "Why aren't you healing daddy?" "Why you leafe? Dada could have hurt" and "Dadday not sleeb nou, make him awage!"

Hearing small children clamour and plead with their wide brown and green eyes flow over in angry and worried tears makes you stop and calmly explain to the three children that their father would be okay and that he could leave the hospital wing in a few days give or take.

"How mangy days?" was a question she unfortunately had no answer for and thus she earned yet another thrashing filled with the potent anger of a failed child, a situation that always brought a feeling of worry and sorrow to the reciever of the scolding.

Luckily the man's wife was more levelheaded and collected and yet her questions was all the more harder for Amaru to answer. "Will my husband ever fly again" for example, was particularly tough. Amaru didn't know the first thing about what condition the Ninja of Soragakure were expected to be in for take off. Though it initially seemed like a selfish question to her, Amaru soon learned what the question meant for a sora-nin. Several of the bedridden men had the same question "Will I fly again doc?" it seemed like it was practically their life and soul to be up in the clouds soaring like the birds and looking down upon those still ruled by gravity.

At times it seemed to her that it was almost a religious relationsship they had with the sky and it peeked her interest to the point of asking her near constant guards, Katsuma and Ahoro, the men who had captured her, why that was so? Though initially rebuked and told it was none of her concern, she kept on asking them innocently and then, when that didn't work, outright demanding an answers from them, claiming it would help her understand her patients and therefore better know how to treat them.

* * *

After trying to get answers from Ahoro and then Katsuma several times over the course of a day or two, Katsuma finnally cracked and took her out in a nearby stoorage room walled with shelves filled with clean sheets and medicine. After checking that they were alone in the dimly lit room Amaru was told to sit down and listen carefully as Katsuma would only tell her the info once and after her promising him that it stayed between them and didn't get mentioned to anyone. after swearing on her own and everyone she knew's honor, Katsuma finally relaxed and sat down on a box as well head lowered, face pointed slightly downwards with his hand in his lab. Exhaling heavily, he began the story:

_"It all began when the previous generation were destroyed during the second shinobi world war... the survivors were in bad shape, their hopes destroyed by Konoha, when the temples on top of the mountains were toppled and brought down, while as our ninja were annihaleted and our military decimated. The children, women, elders and some of the shinobi mannaged to hide and escape in special emergency crafts designed for just this scenario, they flew up in the clouds were they could not be seen or reached by the enemy. _

_From the cloud they could look upon the world well beyound the smoking crater that had been their home. They saw the jungles, rivers and villages of their homeland and that kept them out of despair, their country still stood and could rise up once more when they returned to the ground. _

_The sky saved them and they returned to the ruins only to salvage the remants of their culture and rebuild. Often they would take to they sky when they were in danger of being found out and then return to the ground to continue the next day. To fly was not just a way to make war upon your enemies, but also to survive and safeguard what you held dear._

_To fly for a Sora-nin was to see the world, to regain hope and to strenghten that feeling in your comrades aswell. The more wings in the sky the more hope for the village, for Soragakure!"_

While Katsuma had spoken of the village's rise from the ashes and ascention into the clouds once more, tears had begun to form in his eyes and his voice had taken a passionate tone, he ended his tale with a short sniff to hold back his gentle sobbing and clear his throat.

Amaru wasn't speechless, she just didn't realise what it meant when a hidden village was almost destroyed and had to rebuild. She supposed it was like a phoenix being reborn. So few realised it, but the mythic bird was always reborn through flames and pain.

"It must have been hard on Soragakure..."

"You have no idea"

Startled Amaru turned her head and saw Ahoro standing in the doorway, a shoulder supporting his body and his legs and arms crossed, while his mask and hood had been drawn back, shoving a young man in his twenties brandishing the usual military short haircut that was used by most active Sora-nin, along with a slightly more distinguishing (and frankly butt ugly) thin pencil moustache. He wasn't smilling, but not frowning either. His eyes were half closed as he too began to drift into the two ninja's shared history.

"Me and Katsuma here wasn't born yet at the time, but we took part in the rebuilding from the moment we were old enough to wield a hammer in the workshops, and then we moved on as we got older, to aircraft building, cleaning out the ruins, digging these caves along the rare Doton users we get from time to time and of course securing food, all the while trainning hard to become a ninja in the future" When he finnished, he and Katsuma silently nodded in unison, confirming the special feeling the story brought upon them. Amaru could only watch and take in what she had heard.

When you were the winner you thought all was well and that you only had to rebuild and then everything would be fine, but you kept on forgetting that the otherside had more wounded and was in greater misery. The loser of the match was often left to their fate.

"Weeeellll, breaks over! there's people who needs treating and you've had heard what you wanted, so get out there and do your thing Amaru-san" Ahoro said in a hurry eager to end the story that was beginning to sound far too emotional for soldiers to tell it

blinking, Amaru returned from the depths of her mind to utter an uncertain "Y-yes" before she was pulled up by Katsuma and gently pushed out the door back into the infermery's moans and semi-cleaness.

Only to stumple over a large canister on the floor.

Cursing as she got up, Amaru looked upon the canister she had fallen over. A large metallic cylinder. It didn't look anything like what any of the medic-nins used, but as Amaru hadn't seen it before, she simple sighed and rolled it up in a standing position next to the door, where Ahoro and Katsuma was watching her with a puzzling expression. Or rather they were eyeing the canister with a... somewhat fearful expression.

"Eh, Ahoro... is that what I think it is?"

Blinking several times, yet without changing his fearful expression, Ahoro finally managed to stammer a "No" before rushing past Katsuma to rise up the canister, and began to lift it, with the help of Katsuma so that they coukld get it outn of the infirmary.

All the commotion almost covered his words "No, no it couldn't be..."

Amaru never had time to ask him what he meant as one of the senior medics (she knew him as Eniwa-senpai) appeared and dragged her by a sleeve, while muttering on about "New batch of wounded and dead coming in, we need you over here Amaru-chan"

Amaru reluctantly let herself be dragged along while watching her two captors as they carried the cylinder out of the infirmery, distancing the distance between them, between her and the mystery of the cylinder, and it's purpose.

* * *

This group of survivors was being transported by boat into the crowded harbor. It was the first Amaru had been present to see survivors arive and it was a sad sight. The men had huddled up in the hull of the small vessel, some with improvised bandages on heads, arms(or lack there of), torsos and legs, while some of the fresher ones was sitting on the reeling with their feet in the water, some waved at the assembly, hoping to tell a relative or friend that they would make it.

The senior medic was standing at the end of the pier to best asses the situation. Eniwa had left Amaru at the main group that was being kept in line by a pair of guards. Amaru had a fine viewpoint from the front row of the crowd, meidcs and their assistants were allowed to be as people recognised their vitality. From her position Amaru could see the older medic's brow furrow as he looked into the low boat when it was towed into docking position. scratching the top of his balding head, he bent forward and talked to some of the passengers as he waved for his subordinates to come closer to help the wounded. Whatever was being said Eniwa soon accelareted in moves and commands, ordering medics into action and for the area to be cleared of all unauthoritized personel, which in general was evertyone but the medics present.

When most of the wounded had been set aside on the pier, Eniwa called for a stretcher and some fast carriers. Getting out of the way before she was run down by two men's nearly panicky spurt, Amaru looked befuddled and angrily at them as they stepped down into the boat and loaded whatever it was Eniwa-senpai was so worried about, up on the stretcher and transported it out of the boat and up to the main infirmary.

Looking at what it was on the stretcher as they hurried past her, Amaru was unsurprised to learn that it was a ninja, but not like any one of the other Sora-nin she had seen.

This one carried no flak Jacket, infact his chest was bare except for a bandaged abdomen. He wore a pair of simple deep dark baggy long shorts and bandages around his arms that hang limply from the sides of the stretcher. His most distinguishing trait however, was his head, or rather the enormous amount of black hair that covered it. If he could have stood up, it would have reached his knees with ease. It had been swept over his face and lay in a coil upon his, occasionally, rising and falling stomach.

Amaru could see that he was not like the other ninja, he was far too distinguished. As the stretcher hurried past them, the crowd stood silenty, wathching. Mixed expressions filled the crowd, some were marked by fear, others; dissapointment and sorrow, yet some had hope enough to look relieved, that was until Amaru heard it: Snickering!

Someone was enjoying this, someone close by.

turning angrily to confront whoever it was who had a blast seeing a wounded man suffer, Amaru saw who it was: Sergeant Tokachi.

Good old, mean and loud yelling Sergeant Tokachi, smilling like a lecher in an Onsen bath (Amaru recalled far too clearly the whitehaired one She had caught peeking in Konoha(yes he had saved her and Naruto but still)) and looking like he was only going to smile even more, Amaru just felt like slapping him.

Deciding against it Amaru instead lent a shoulder to a limping ninja, large than her but lighter due to the lack of food out upon the sea, he looked at her with surprised eyes, which quickly turned to a grateful and smilling.

* * *

Amaru quickly felt the new workload brought by the newly arrived on her shoulders, carrying double her weight due to the number of medics required to tend to Rakko-sama's injuries. She almost had to tend to the other arrivers herself, all the time running for food and clean towels and medicine, only getting so many hours of sleep as was necesary for her to function without causing fatal damage to her patients. Though they appreciated her it wasn't enough to give her the extra energy she needed. Had she taken the time to look in her mirrorimage she would be horrified to discover the wrinkles forming under her eyes.

* * *

Amaru's overworked stage lasted only a few days, the other medics gradually returned from the other side of the curtain that separated Rakko from the other patients, often they held up their arms in a defeated fashion before they turned to greet her and relieve her of patients after hearing of their status. They never told her what transpired on the other side of the curtain and explicably denied her access, even when she pointed out that he needed cleaning as well as all the others.

one day her curiosity had gotten the better of her and in a moment of unattention, she had slipped past the curtains to see her new patient.

She found him lying on a stretcher, half covered by a blanket and his mane of raven-hair, exposing a little too much... skin at times, for Amaru's liking

gently tugging at the edge of the blanket, Amaru managed to get him covered up before looking over his sweat drenched body. Aside from the occasional movement of his chest, indicating breath, he lay perfectly still. it was clear that his energy was spent from the days at sea and he was caught in the throes of a terribly fever. Amaru had barely glanced him and he had been searingly hot to the touch. Quickly grapping a sponge and some clean water, Amaru began to wipe his brow, ior at least whay she thought was his brow. the equally sweat drenched hair was hard to peer through.

"Who.. are you?"

the words hadn't been spoken in surprise, only in wearyness, unentusiastic tiredness, like a sleep depraved drunk

Amaru had initially been startled, she hadn't heard anyone enter, the rustling of the drapes would have given it off. It took her a moment to realise where the voice had come from

"You're awake!" it was more a statement than a question. Amaru watched in silent fascination as her patient, Rakko, looked at her (she assumed), tilting his head slightly, before uttering, without changing his tone:

"Who.. are you?"

Suddenly aware of her rudeness, Amaru stumpled slightly with a response

"Amaru! My name is Amaru, I'm here to..."

"I... Already... told... your senpai... to... leave me... alone!" His hand nearly rose to remove the wet sponge before his arm gave up and relaxed again, slumping over the side of the bed. he had sounded angry or vexed, not in the mood to be contradicted, Amaru wanted to try anyway

"But if we don't..." She began

"I don't care!"

Amaru hushed at his tone, surpised at his response, even more so by the strenght with which he had said it, as sick a man as him shouldn't be capable of summoning such energy

"But..."

"Beegone! go help... somebody that... want's it"

Amaru couldn't summon up the energy to argue with him, she reasoned that he would bee too stressed and his fever would get the better of him. Sighing inwardly, she rose and exited the Small secluded area, only to run straight into Eniwa-senpai, whom was already looking tired and dissapointed. looking angrily at her, Amaru prepared herself for a verbal barage of scoldings... She neddn't wait long

"What were you thinking Amaru-chan? Rakko-sama is understrict care of the senior medics and is off limits to everyone else, can't you understand that?"

"I just tried to dampen his fever a bit, but he didn't want treatment! why is that?"

looking at her uneasily, Eniwa scratched his head before bowing it in sadness

"Sometimes, some people take defeat much harder than the rest, the become depreseed and can't see any light at all afterwards" sacking his shoulders and bowing his head, Eniwa continued

"These things just sorta happens, You learn in those situations that you can't save everyone, I know you did it to help, and you're not the kind of person to poison someone, but for your own good don't try to help him again, people, important people, might take offence and you might get more hurt inside from trying to do this, giving up is sometimes for the better Amaru-chan" as he finnished he looked at her like a parent would look at a child, I knew he meant well for her and that he was only trying to get her from getting hurt, but she knew she wanted to help Rakko, she needed to, there are only so few men who deserved to be left to die when the could live and Rakko didn't strike her as a bad person, only one who needed support in this tough situation.

And she was going to give it to him

* * *

Second chapter, intended to end the fic with this one but I'll draw it out for another chapter or two, which will be updated as soon as possible, this update took over a year to do so, 'bout 3 weeks tops I think, then I'm over my exams at the university

Introducing: Rakko, Eniwa and a "Canister"!


End file.
